10 Fundraising Projects Backed By YouTube's International Stars

January 22, 2015 9:45 PM

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When YouTube star Tyler Oakley decided to support the Trevor Project for his 25th birthday, he knew he could count on his huge fan base. Being a celebrity -- not just among millennials -- with over 6 million subscribers to his channel, he felt he could do something concrete for the organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention to LGBTQ kids. He decided to promote a crowdfunding campaign on Prizeo to engage and involve his fans. He set a target of $150,000 (in a similar campaign in 2013 Tyler raised $29,000, but he wanted to do better). What he and the Trevor Project team didn't count on was that they would be able to collect more than $525, 000 in just 50 days!

The campaign proved a huge success not just in terms of money raised, but also in terms of engagement. The fundraising was backed by a series of livestreams and live tweets every Sunday to give weekly updates, with Q&As, special guests and live "Thank Yous" to donors on camera. During the live sessi...